Monday, May 18, 2015

I dropped Tom off at his shack.
Couldn’t much call it anything else considering the sight of it.I knew when the church deal went through his
church “flock” would make sure Tom and his family had more suitable living
arrangements.My goal was to leave that
entire drug dealing business behind me and get the sale papers viewed by
someone other than Timothy Haines so I could move on.I
certainly didn’t want the old preacher signing anything that could have gotten him into any
shady legal matters.No I was going to
make sure everything was on the up and up before I headed West.

After a good night’s sleep Duke and
I had breakfast.I then made the call to
Granddaddy in Austin with a request for his people to look over the legalities
of the church I had found for Tom Baird.The church I was prepared to purchase and repair for him that is.

Grandaddy’s secretary put me right
through to him.Of course he asked me
where I was and when I said Amarillo he immediately figured something was
wrong.Probably because time wise I
should have gotten to Los Angeles already, instead I was only a few hundred
miles from Austin heading back to Route 66.I assured him I was fine but had been waylaid due to some ratfink
planting drugs in my Cadi.I realized
after I said it I should not have said it.Granddad about flipped his grey comb over as well as I could hear the
familiar sound of the bottom desk drawer open and the bottle of Canadian Club
hit the top of the desk.

“Grandad, I am okay.Listen to me now.I met an old black man name of Tom Baird
whose family was down on their luck. I tried to leave them all behind and drive
onto Santé Fe but you know I couldn’t do it Pops.They live in a run-down shack where his son
is disabled and his daughter has a three year old.To make matters worse the old man lost his
job too.He’s a preacher man Granddaddy
and I found him the neatest outta sight little church you ever saw with a
ready made congregation.”

Granddad abruptly interrupted my
running on saying he wasn’t helping me buy any church for any old Negro
man.Furthermore…..

I quickly intercepted before he
could say anything further.“Granddaddy,
you are not buying a church for anyone.I am.I need the expertise of
your legal team to look over the paperwork so Tom Baird and I don’t get hornswoggled
amidst a bad deal.That is all I am
asking regarding the church deal.On the
other hand we have found ourselves in the middle of some sort of drug operation
in small town Amarillo, U.S.A.Tom and
Duke were kidnapped, Miles Reed the FBI investigator's vehicle was run off the road and then he was hospitalized. T hen I found
him sobbing at the cemetery over Pam Hawkinson's grave after she killed her
lover and then herself basically in front of me and her uncle, the realtor
selling us the church.And …..”

“For the love of God Julianna, how
the hell do you get yourself into these situations?I want you to get your dog and put the Cadi
on the highway and get the hell outta there today!Do you hear me youngin’? Just look at the
mess you’re in again.Another God Damn
cardboard box you’re able to crawl out of but you don’t.It’s a cardboard box Julianna and I don’t
want to see it turn into damn coffin.”That is what he said in a loud crackling voice that ran through me as if
it were God himself shooting bolts of hot lightning all around me with their
tiny tributaries hitting my brain.

I was silent for what seemed
minutes but of course was only seconds.I didn’t know what to say considering I had already said too much.Probably a result of the special brewed ice
tea I had for breakfast.Whichever the
reason it was too late whereas I heard nothing on the other end of the phone
line.It wasn’t like Granddaddy to hang
up on me but then I had given him quite a bit of stress the past month or
so.And then the deep southern voice of
my Grandfather spoke.

“Send me the paperwork!”

“I meekly said, “Thank you
sir.”And we hung up.I could see in my mind’s eye Grandad’s next
steps as though I were sitting across the desk from him.He unscrewed the cap from the jug of Canadian
Club Whiskey, took out a shot glass, filled it to the brim, downed it and
smiled.And then he did it again.I was wishing I could get away with that
but I knew better.He could hold his
liquor from the years of practice whereas I never indulged to that degree of
which I was thankful.

I made my way to the local Amarillo
Post Office only to find it closed for lunch.Simply dandy I thought.Federal
employees get to close the building for lunchtime.They had much more power than other
business’s and they pulled that bully card whenever possible, especially in the
federal legal system. I did some shopping while the Fed’s ate lunch then
returned to mail the copies of the church legal papers to Granddaddy’s office
in Austin.I had no idea how long before
I would hear from either his attorney’s or he himself.Guess it was time to settle in for a bit of
Amarillo sightseeing.Although so far my
sight-seeing days in the fair city were nothing to write or call home
about.Fact was they had been rather
frightening.

I shopped at almost every store on
Polk Street, then 7th and 8th Street.The next day I went back downtown to the
Paramount Theatre and saw “Party Girl.”During my shopping sprees Shamika babysat Duke.He loved it there as well as it always lifted
Shamonta’s spirits to the moon.And of
course I would bring a Cadi full of presents for everyone upon my return.Tom had gotten his job back at the Rice Motel
Restaurant and all seemed to be going smoothly for everyone.I hadn’t seen or heard from Miles Reed at all
nor did I make it a point to search him out.I was dang tired of talking, hearing, or seeing, anything to do with
drug activity, murder suicides, interrogations, or kidnapping’s, in Amarillo.
Nope, I was shopping, sightseeing, and waiting for news from Granddaddy and or
his legal people.I had been in Amarillo
for Thanksgiving and now we were headed for Christmas.It was way past time for Duke and me to hit
the road again.Granddad had contacted
me once since our initial conversation to let me know he had a trickle of good
information for me but it required a bit more time. He had also spoken to
Tilton Boyer who placed a pending sale on the property.I did wonder how Granddad made that happen
but I did not question it for now.

On Tom’s day off we had gone out to
walk the grounds of his new church home.Our visit that day to Christ the King Pentecostal Church was for fun,
future plans, and of course some serious prayer.I told him I also wanted to make a stop at
the mansion.Dear God and all his Angels
and Mother Mary I thought old Tom would fall dead on the spot.Why his brown face turned pale.Never had I seen anything such as that, but
then I hadn’t personally known very many Negro’s who fainted.

As he leaned against one of the
beautiful tree’s he said, “Is youse bored missy Julie?I is show we can come up wit sometin betta
and safa ta doo wit our time and lives.”And he walked away from me.That
was the first time old Tom ever spoke to me in such a fatherly manner.I was embarrassed at my lack of sensitivity
for what I failed to recall he had been put through at that evil place.Even Duke walked off from me with old Tom.

I said, “Wait, I’m sorry.I just thought we could, um, find out, um,
investigate, and get some answers.”Neither Duke nor Tom acknowledged my intentions in any way.They just kept walking. “Fine then, I will go
by myself after I drop you and Duke off at your place.”

Old Tom stopped dead still never
uttering a word.Just standing there
like a dang statue. Duke did his usual looking back and forth at Tom then me,
then Tom then me.

At that instant Tom said, “Use yoer
head child.”

I suppose he was right in
hindsight, but as we all know I rarely did that until after the fact.We finished our church planning visit I
seemed to have ruined for everyone.I
was beginning to wonder if the church deal was ever going to go through,
although Tom was becoming more acquainted with his congregation as the days and
weeks passed.They would meet him every
Saturday night and Sunday morning at the Church.They brought lawn chairs, musical
instruments, some of the instruments were homemade and folding tables full of
food.Tom would stand on the steps of
the church and preach as well as led the people in song.It was truly exhilarating to be a part
of.

I told him I wanted to at least try
the door and when I did it opened.I was
smiling ear to ear like I had won something big.Tom on the other hand was shaking his head
saying, “Shit!”I learned that day preachers
cuss on occasion too. I pushed the
creaking door open. Duke started barking and Tom was still shaking his head is
frustration.I think he had stopped
saying shit by then.I told Tom I wanted
to see what was behind or around the fireplace.Pam had told me the hidden staircase to the third floor was behind the
fireplace but it wasn’t.It was inside
the pantry.Dang place was almost as
eerie as my run in with the Ghost of the outer edge back in Illinois or was
that Missouri?Townsfolk said the ghosts
of Tim and Jake’s Father and Pam’s Mother walked the third floor for years.And now Pam and Jake were most likely stuck up
there also.Tom drew the line on going
to that floor. He said no way would he subject himself or Duke to that horror
ever again.And I agreed.

We got to the main floor kitchen
and I began inspecting the fireplace.Tom sat at the table with Duke hugging his leg.In fact if Duke could have he would have been
in Tom’s lap.I pushed every brick on
the face of that fireplace wall hoping for a magical door to open or an entire
wall to move aside.Nothing.Then I moved to the walls where I pressed
spots where there was no reason to press spots.I kicked the fireplace, hollered at it, hit it, and begged it.All the while Tom sat staring at me like I
was a spoiled child who didn’t think before she acted.It was with that realization I stood very
still and listened to my spirit.I did
not hear anything, but I saw something in my minds eye.It was a coal black square with a small metal
ring in the center.I turned and looked
at Tom with unspoken wide eyed intention.

Tom said, “What?”

I didn’t respond, rather I laid on
the floor as close to the fireplace opening as possible and reached
inside.Closing my eyes so I could use
my other senses to find the black coal colored square, and then I squealed like
a greased pig in a rodeo race!My finger
hooked the latch and I pulled.Tom
realized what was happening and sprang into action shining my flashlight into
the black hole of a possible treasure find.The brick fell out from the wall and behind it was a metal box. I was
able to pull it lose from its captivity and it fell to the floor of the
fireplace as though it knew I was freeing its hidden mystery.Tom grabbed it and set it on the table.We both starred at it with some unearthly feelings.Like maybe this wasn’t real.

I said, “Open it Tom! Hurry.”Although old Tom never did much of anything
in a hurry, because he was slow, steady, and thoughtful, unless he was
preaching.And so Tom unemotionally pried
it open and inside the box we found folded papers.Tom carefully unfolded the papers and once again
his eyes got big as saucers.

I said, “What, what! What is
it?”

His mouth was hanging open and his
eyes were still way too big to look normal as he handed the papers to me.I took
them into my hands, shone the flashlight onto the typewritten paper and read
aloud.

State of Texas Birth Certificate

Mother:Agnes HawkinsonFather:Unknown

Child:Baby Pamela Jean HawkinsonDate of Birth:1-22-1940 and so on as a legal document read.And then I saw the note attached to the birth
certificate.The note was the reason for
Tom Baird’s eyes to bug out like he’d stuck his finger in an electrical
socket.The note read:Upon my
death please notify my daughter Pamela J. Hawkinson that her birth fathers name
is Miles Wilson Reed of Galveston, Texas.And please forgive me for never telling you the truth my loving child.

Behind the note and birth
certificate was the deed to the mansion and the little white church.They had been left to Miles Reed and Pam
Hawkinson upon the death of Agnes Hawkinson.

“Holy Shit Tom!”I said.

Tom agreed this was a lot. to take in.It was big.
Someone we’d known had been hiding a very big secret.Tilton said the mansion was owned by
Tim and Jake Haines.No wonder Jake was
going to kill Pam.They wanted to
inherit the property.But why?It’s a run-down old prison where ghosts
live.And the church is a Negro
church.Something is still missing I
told Tom.Oh my gosh no wonder Miles was
beyond grief when Pam died.He must have
known she was his daughter.And here I
thought they were lovers.He
interrogated me so he could learn more about Pam and keep his eye on Jake whose
father murdered Pam’s mother for having an affair with his father.And all that talk about Jake being a
Frenchman must have been a cover up to keep me out of the loop. I was not sure Miles was aware he owned the
properties.I was zoned out inside my
head with all this new information. When I came back to earth I looked up and
noticed Tom’s face had saddened.He
suddenly realized he may not get the precious little white church after all.Tilton
and Tim Haines must know my legal team will find out they do not really own the
church. We could be in danger once again.

And then we heard a vehicle coming
up the gravel driveway.My baby browning
was in the Cadi.We could either go up
to third floor or race to the Cadi. Neither was a good option. That is when I heard Preacher Tom
say, “Shit!” And I prayed it wouldn't be the last time I ever heard him say it.

Julianna Rowe: My pseudonym or pen name

"Writing stories with parts of my life mingled within the pages takes me to places I love. It also re-writes certain pages of my life that needed a few touch ups. Sort of like when you wake from a bad dream and fix the ending before totally waking up. That is what my books are about. Truths and fabrications within the walls of my mind. Mostly fabrications from my vivid imagination."

My Lifebook "More Than Meets the Eye"

Love Letters.....from Daddy.

About the Book

Letters to his daughters while incarcerated.....

Feeling helpless, alone, and unable to offer a touch, Daniel spent hours drawing, writing, offering advice the only way he could. These were all written in 2004 until I assembled all the ones I could find into this book for his daughters to hold on to until he comes home.